


welcome home, beautiful

by StarlightDragon



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Airports, Established Relationship, Fluff, Insecurity, M/M, Reunions, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 08:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6797470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightDragon/pseuds/StarlightDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reid goes to meet Morgan at the airport after the two of them have been apart for a month.</p>
            </blockquote>





	welcome home, beautiful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Itch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itch/gifts).



> This is a welcome home present for Itchbae because he was away for the weekend and I missed him!! Also my first ever Criminal Minds fic, so I hope I did an alright job because I definitely hope to write more for the fandom in the future!

Reid was pretty sure he'd never been so nervous in his life as he was when Morgan announced he was going to England for a month. A _month_. He'd been asked there, of course, to keep working on an FBI case that had suddenly gone international, since he already knew all the details and they didn't want to brief an entire new team. And of course, Reid was proud of him for the opportunity. That went without saying. And of course he trusted him and knew that he would do an amazing job.

But still...

Reid couldn't help being secretly scared; he couldn't hide the flickers of doubt in the back of his mind that reminded him that a month was a long time for the two of them to be apart. And Reid saw himself as a pretty forgettable person. It would be so, so easy for some London girl with long blonde hair and a British accent to catch Morgan's eye, and he'd actually be able to spend time with her, and before he knew it he'd be falling for her, leaving Reid waiting, an entire ocean away, for someone who was never coming back to him. 

He wouldn't blame Morgan in the slightest. The man could do so much better than him, and Reid would be happy for Morgan if he found someone else. Outwardly, at least.

But the days had gone by, Morgan still taking the time to shoot Reid a quick Facebook message every day even if he was busy, and though he mentioned work and his new colleagues, there was nobody who sounded like they stood out as particularly special to Morgan. And Morgan wasn't the best at telling Reid that he loved him or missed him, but there would be occasional hints in his messages - 'Accidentally wearing odd socks today. Smiled when I realized because it reminded me of you.' - that calmed Reid's mind, making him worry a little bit less.

And now he was here, at Dulles International Airport. He was sure he'd spent an entire hour that morning staring at his closet, trying to pick out the perfect outfit for his first time seeing his boyfriend in a month. Sure, there had been a few Skype calls, but it wasn't quite the same. He needed to look good for this, because even after an eight hour flight, Morgan was still sure to look effortlessly better than him. Finally, he'd decided on a purple shirt paired with a grey cardigan and bow tie, over the jeans that Morgan always said he should wear more often. It was a casual day, after all.

So he stood in the airport, bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxiously awaiting his boyfriend's return through the doors marked International Arrivals. There was a steady stream of people filtering through, and every so often a sudden burst of life as a huge crowd came through the doors, but no Morgan, no Morgan, no Morgan. Reid started to panic, trying to remind himself over and over again that he was here two hours early, Morgan wasn't even supposed to be there yet.

And then, finally--

Reid spotted him immediately. It wasn't like he was even that distinctive, head down, pulling a plain black suitcase, wearing a navy polo and jeans. But Reid knew. He just felt immediately better, calmer somehow even as he was getting more and more excited, just from seeing Morgan and knowing he was close.

Morgan glanced up, and the two of them locked eyes for the first time in a month, the first time without any computer screens or barriers between them.

Reid stared.He'd forgotten quite how breathtakingly beautiful Morgan's eyes were in person, and he just wanted to gaze at them for hours.

He was going to play it cool. He was, he could totally manage it. He'd stay aloof and wait for Morgan to walk up to _him_ and then he'd greet him with a casual, "Hey, Morgan, how was England?" That was easy and he would definitely be able to--

As soon as there was a clear path from himself to Morgan, Reid launched himself across the floor, sprinting the last few feet until the two of them collided and Reid could wrap his arms tight around Morgan, burying his face in his neck, breathing in that familiar smell that he hadn't experienced for so long. The real thing was so, so much better than the sweatshirts of Morgan's that Reid had been sleeping in these past few weeks.

"Careful! You'll hurt the flowers," Morgan laughed, hugging Reid back with one arm.

"The what?" Reid asked as he pulled away, his face red, embarrassed at his own actions.

Morgan pulled a bunch of yellow daffodils from behind his back, holding them in the hand he hadn't used to hug Reid. "The flowers I got you."

"You're not... you're not supposed to get me flowers," Reid gasped, short of breath for some reason, his heart pounding. "Aren't I supposed to get you flowers? You've been sitting on a plane all day. I can't believe I didn't think to get you flowers."

"Entertaining as it would have been for us to both get each other flowers..." Morgan smirked. "There was a store just outside of arrivals. I saw these and thought of you."

Reid blushed, and he took the flowers from Morgan with a shaking hand. "That's... I... thankyou."

"The great Spencer Reid, lost for words. Now that's a welcome home present in itself," Morgan chuckled, and he leaned in to press a soft kiss to Reid's forehead.

Reid blushed harder, and he mumbled something that vaguely sounded like, "I hate you."

"You do not. You love me and you missed me."

"That is true," Reid replied and it made him feel a little better knowing that Morgan knew these things for sure.

They were halfway back to the car when Reid slapped a hand to his forehead in horror.

"Everything okay?" Morgan asked.

"No! You distracted me."

"From what?" Morgan bit his lip, a little worried.

"From- you started talking about the flowers and I got confused and had to ask you about them but I was going to, I'd planned out the first thing I wanted to say to you when I got back!"

Morgan paused, and then burst out into surprised laughter. "Oh, well, in that case I demand a do-over. Come on. You wait here, I'll vanish and then come back, and you pretend it's the first time you've seen me for a month. Alright?"

Reid nodded, because there was no way he could deny Morgan his fun right now. But he was terrified all over again, somehow even more terrified than he had been the first time they'd seen each other again.

He watched, staring in the direction where Morgan had disappeared, slipping his hand into his pocket. This time, he was going to be prepared. He wasn't going to let Morgan's flowers or general perfection distract him.

Reid's hand closed around a small object and he gripped it tight. It reminded him why he was doing this. He loved Morgan, and he thought he might even be lucky enough for Morgan to love him back, and that was all they needed.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened them, there Morgan was, striding towards him, determined, eyes fixed on Reid and a smile on his face.

Reid's face split into a huge grin when Morgan finally stopped in front of him.

"Welcome home, beautiful."

Morgan raised an eyebrow at him, looking like he wasn't buying Reid's bullshit for a second. "That's it? That's your line? I know you, and I'm sure you came up with something better than that."

Reid chuckled, surprised. He supposed he shouldn't be, really. Morgan did know him better than anyone.

He pulled his hand out of his pocket, holding up a tiny purple velvet box.

Morgan's eyes widened, but Reid didn't let him speak, immediately blurting-

"I was so scared when you left that the time apart was going to ruin our relationship. Before London I spent every day worrying that you were going to leave me, and I found it hard to believe that somebody like you would want to be with someone like me. But now that we've got through this, I don't think I'm going to worry about that so much. I will, sometimes. Because I'm human, even if I don't always like to admit that. But it'll be a lot less often. And I think if anything could prove to me that you and I are going to last a long time, it would be this, because statistically men who spend a large amount of time away from their partners are more likely to have affairs or lose interest, but... you didn't."

Morgan chuckled, blinking tears out of his eyes. "Yeah, Reid. That's cause I'm not a statistic. I'm your boyfriend and I'm madly in love with you and I'll never forget how lucky I am to have you."

"Right..." Reid said weakly, completely thrown off guard by that, forgetting where he was going with his speech.

He glanced down at the ring box again. "Oh! Yes. So, I think you and I stand a fair chance of... of sustaining this relationship in the long term. And I understand if you don't want any sort of fancy ceremony, but... I got you a ring, and I like the symbolism of it, and it would mean a lot to me if you would wear it."

Morgan beamed, and he choked out, "Course I will. Spencer Reid, I'd do anything for you, I'd wear a goddamn flower crown to work if you asked me to. I'll wear your ring, and I'd like to make it official too. Something small. Maybe just invite the rest of the team and their families. God, how can you ever have thought I'd leave you?"

"I'm guessing that was a rhetorical question?" Reid checked, and Morgan nodded as he pulled him into his arms for a hug, and then a soft kiss that was drawn out for far longer than it should have been considering how many people were around, and then another hug. For a while they just stood and held each other. The world moved on around them, people coming in and out of the airport, going to and from new and interesting places, getting on with their lives. And yet Reid and Morgan just stood there, wrapped up in each other's arms, the flowers and the ring box clutched between their chests, neither of them even caring that the flowers were getting crushed and that the rings weren't yet on their fingers. They were back together again. That was all that mattered.

Both of them knew that this probably wasn't the last time they would be apart for a long time. And those extended work trips would always be hard on both of them, and maybe they'd still worry about some things when they were alone. There'd definitely always be that painful ache that came from lying in an empty bed and missing the warm presence of the other.

But they didn't have to think about that yet. For now they had days, weeks, even months together. They could go home, take a bath, wrap themself in fluffy robes, play a board game together, order Chinese food and sleep curled up together before they had to go into work next day, just appreciating being able to do this again after weeks of not having the chance.

And besides, with every trip that forced them apart, would be a reunion that brought them back together. And didn't that make it all worthwhile?

**Author's Note:**

> I exist at **casandsip.tumblr.com** \- come say hi!!


End file.
